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A family Christmas

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Our first Christmas together as a married couple was also our first opportunity (and perhaps the last for a while) to share Christmas with Ruth’s family. We are really blessed to be able to drive down to Norwich to share in the celebrations. We were able to spend time with Ruth’s Parents, Gran and Uncle and partner (pictured).
We were also fortunate to visit Ruth’s sending church NBC for their Nativity and Carols services and see some old friends over the pre-Christmas weekend. It was a great time of refreshment for both of us.

Audio Visual, Observations

Dance Factor

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Last weekend I joined the OMNIvision crew for the live filming of a school dance competition. Dance Factor 6 brought together students from primary and secondary schools around the Carlisle area to compete. But why bother? What was the purpose of servicing an event with no mission or even Christian focus?
It comes down to two beliefs that we hold. Quality media productions tell the story better than half baked attempts, that is why we do what we do – and producing quality multimedia and event coverage requires continuous practice. We offer our professional services for events that don’t conflict with our beliefs and values and where there is no other opportunity for us to serve the Christian community – thus helping us to stay sharp and focussed.
We also believe in doing all that we can to be self sufficient. many generous people give to provide Ruth and I with a home and food, but nobody should have to foot the bill for the equipment that we use. That’s why we use mostly donated or discounted equipment that is high quality but not necessarily the cutting edge.

Daniel taught me everything that I know about my role in OMNIvision. He has showed me how to monitor 3 to 6 cameras and make sure the images look natural throughout the show. This is important so that people are not distracted by strange colours or overexposed images. Now that Daniel and his wife have taken 3 months out to visit the Logos Hope, I have taken the responsibility for Engineering. It’s a really technical job – but still an important one. I feel like I’ve come at just the right time to be of use.

Chris in Engineering
Chris in Engineering
A camera pointing at the stage
One of the cameras used in the event
Mission, Personal

Dinner for a ship

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“It’s great to hear the testimony of someone who has served onboard the ship” said one of the delegates at the Logos Hope ship fundraising dinner.

Our friends Steve and Heather Packwood (Steve was my boss on Logs Hope) invited us up to the beautiful city of Edinburgh for the weekend to attend a dinner to raise funds for the ship ministry. While we as crew members needed  our beloved supporters to provide for our needs during our two years on the ship – other supporters donate directly to the ship ministry to pay for repairs, upkeep and fuel to keep the ship running. We were invited to this one of two dinners (the other in London) to share our experience of what we did onboard and how it changed our lives. Speaking about the ship experience together in front of people really brought back some great memories of our time on board and reminded us of just how much God has done in our lives since we walked up the gangway in September 2009. Firstly that Ruth and I had found each other, but also that we had found a place and a ministry where God could use us for great things, and that when we have no idea how to do something He will happily guide us through.

Countries, Observations, Personal

Old friends :: Claire and Colton prepare to tie the knot

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Friends from ship days – Photo by Sam Kwan

“I thought I spoke English before I came to the UK” I exclaimed to those gathered at  the table. The night before the big celebration a few of us close friends from ship days gathered together for dinner and were sharing our experiences of adapting to British culture.

A little over a year since we shared two years of our lives in close quarters with so many people we called friends, I cannot describe to you how refreshing it was to be back in the company of these old friends. Chief amongst these for me were some of my closest friends from my time onboard. Ruth also enjoyed meeting with friends of hers. I was encouraged by others sharing their stories of difficulty adapting to british culture after marrying Brits. Calling crackers biscuits and calling biscuits cookies, parking on the wrong side of the street and misunderstanding social cues. Sometimes I feel totally foreign and at other times I feel like I belong here.

The celebration lunch happened the day before they left for the US and just weeks before their US wedding and held all the hallmarks of a wedding reception. It was a delightful affair – and it was so nice to see them walking the road to marriage so well. I was very impressed by the way Colton had prepared every detail for their future life together in the states.

Christian weddings are often a great witness to God’s goodness to us and our ability to celebrate without excess in drinking and the like – and this celebration was a shining example. I loved the way the speeches reflected God’s provision and guiding in their lives, that whilst alcohol was available it barely featured, that we celebrated with such a lovely barn dance – and mostly that we could all gather around Claire and Colton to pray God’s blessing upon them as they travel onwards and together.  They say that Christian marriage should reflect the way Jesus loves the church and we love him – and this is already evident in their lives.

Audio Visual

Northern Women’s Conference

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This weekend I was at the Northern Women’s Conference with OMNIvision. We set up cameras and screens so people could easily see the main speaker and we put up the song words. All in all it went very well. I was the Engineer for the day which meant I made sure the images were good quality so they were not distracting and I made sure the sound on the recording was clear (also I hit the big record button!) Enjoy the photos!

Personal

Looking for a home

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One way to measure how we have settled in Carlisle might be to ask what church we go to. Well we haven’t really had the chance to decide.
Recently we’ve taken a liking to st Paul’s. It’s actually an ELIM church that recently purchased this quaint old church building (says the Australian).

We feel really welcomed by the pastor and the congregation every time we visit and we’ve found the service style very enjoyable. There are lots of churches in Carlisle, each with it’s own style and strengths and weaknesses – and we’re sure we’ll never find anywhere quite like NBC or Grace but we think we could be quite happy here. We’d like to hear the senior pastor preach (as so far we’ve only heard the associate pastor) before we commit to coming every week.

We’re also thankful for the Christian community of OM. This morning we spent 2 hours in prayer for outreaches and ministries in Europe and the Mediterranean as part of our work time. We also have worship times together 2-3 times per week and devotions together. We’ve often been invited to people’s houses for dinner – and this Friday we’re going to a worship evening at someone’s house. Praise God for community.

Please pray for us as we slowly settle in to our new surroundings, new leaders, new friends, new church family.
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nbc, Observations, Personal

Kingdom people

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“We have lived for such a long time in the abnormal that we call it normal, and when we touch God’s normal we call it abnormal”. A weekend with Northchurch Baptist in Hertfordshire proved to be more than simply time with our friends – it was a real wake up call to what it means to be kingdom people.

Often times we can feel like we are living good Christian lives by going to Church, participating in ministries – even doing mission work! But none of those make us kingdom people. I once heard “Going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car”. Three points challenged me in my walk with God- Kingdom people need:

  1. To be refreshed by the Holy Spirit daily
  2. To reflect deeply on Scripture
  3. To be involved in prayer as God intended

I realised that too often I bring to God a shopping list of prayer requests – things I struggle with myself. And as payment for my prayers (I exaggerate for effect) I read my daily portion of scripture. Oh how much more wonderful to be filled by and refreshed by the spirit daily. How much more beneficial to sit and think about what I have read and how it applies to my life. How it would glorify God to allow his word to renew my mind and transform me into His likeness. And how mountains could be moved if I would bring the needs of others to God in prayer.

Recently, OM started a prayer focus. We launched a website subdomain http://pray.om.org/. If you’ve ever wondered what in the world to pray for – start here. There are many needs around the world, and many amazing and inspiring ministries to support in prayer. For the first time this morning I used this resource in my prayer time, and for a change I felt like my burdens were lighter than they had felt before, and that I was a part of what God is doing to reconcile the whole world to himself.

It was of course also a joyous occasion to spend time with so many of our friends from the Berkhamsted area. People who not only have been supporting us financially and in prayer during our time with OM, but who have invested deeply into Ruth’s life and also into mine ever since I arrived in the UK. We felt blessed and refreshed by it.

On leaving the conference we identified another point that convicted us: Kingdom people need to recognise that they are accountable. We have been blessed with wonderful mentor relationships in Northchurch Baptist and on Logos Hope, but we are yet to establish that kind of relationship here in Carlisle. We know that it takes time, but it also takes intention. Would you please pray with us that we find a couple to guide and mentor us in our lives, our relationship with God and each other and our ministry?

 

Audio Visual, Drama

Mysterious

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“That morning when we awoke, the Lord had just taken him” – the Knight family had lost their son Mike unexpectedly, mysteriously one morning. The coroner could give no reason and so they concluded that the Lord had simply called him home.

After spending the summer traveling around Europe doing big events, this week’s evangelistic concert evening took place right here in Carlisle, UK. Out of the tragedy of their son’s passing, the Knight family brought together Christian entertainers from all around the world for one night to ponder together the mysteries of life and death. Dan and Suzie (Duzie) Potter hosted the event in their peculiar style, the band performed top tracks from Mike’s iPod – songs with challenging lyrics, rap artists WriteWay performed and actor Steven Baldwin shared the story of how his life was changed dramatically by Christ. He lead the audience in a prayer to receive Christ and at least 6 of those who prayed with him made contact with a local church to start an introduction to Christianity course. Many people shared that they had also struggled with loss and grief and questioned God’s existence or goodness but felt differently at the end of the night. I’m sure that many seeds were sown that evening that we will never know about – but in the future they will grow into Christ.

For me personally God answered a very dangerous prayer – to be more humble. During the GO conference I had become rather proud – thinking that I could have done a better job than those around me. Through the mistakes that I made during the setup that had to be fixed for me, and simply observing how talented my co-workers are I felt at the end of the night that God had reminded me of my place as a new team member with OMNIvision and given me a new respect for those I work with.

Audio Visual, Countries

Go therefore into all the world

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‘Thank you Lord that we have 231 people going into all the world tomorrow an we are sending them!” said one of the conference leaders in our prayer time before the final session of GO conference August 2012. Brand new OM team members from over 40 nations had come for an intensive 10 day training course in cross cultural missions. We call it Global Orientation – it’s chief aim to familiarise new team members with OM – the organisation they are working with and to prepare the workers for the cultural shock they will experience in their destination countries. Some are heading to reached nations with unreached people groups (even in the heart of London) and some are heading to the ends of the earth where there is no church to share the good news of our Lord Jesus. We want them to know that they are not alone – that God is with them firstly, and that there is a network of people to call upon for help.
Around 90 new team members are on their way to Logos Hope via some more training in Thailand, and two of them will become new teachers in the ship’s school. Ruth had the opportunity to meet with these two new teachers and prepare them for what they are about to experience. We know that they will be a big blessing to the ship – there is a great need for teachers – and that the ship experience will be life changing for them. Ruth was also able to connect with a number of families with children going out into the mission field for the first time. She gave them advice and reassurance about raising and educating children away from home.
Chris again joined the OMNIvision team in providing the sound, lights, song words and cameras (iMag) for the daily sessions in the main auditorium. He was able to help a lot with the set up of the sound and lighting components and felt much more at home with the equipment and people than at July’s TeenStreet conference. During the conference Chris spent most of the time on camera and feels much more familiar with the role now.
Whilst the two weeks in Holland were fairly easy going (with some long working days mixed in) we found by the end we were very glad to be heading home. Much of the time it felt like we were just working in our jobs and some times we felt like we were just passing the time – but when that prayer was prayed we remembered that God has allowed us to be a part of sending new workers out into the harvest field – and that is a privilege we cannot scoff at.
Chris on camera
Audio Visual, Countries, Education

Leading teens to Christ in Europe

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Whilst the church in exotic far away places like Africa, Asia and even the Middle East is growing at an amazing rate (just look at China) – the church in Europe is in steady decline. Weath and prosperity has replaced the need for God’s provision, advanced science and philosphpy has convinced most people God doesn’t exist – but neither have filled the emptiness inside every human being.

TeenStreet is a large international event in Germany where almost 4000 Christian and undecided teens come and experience God face to face. Powerful, exciting, confronting main meetings with intimite worship and challenging teaching are the spark of a flame that is fanned in small groups where the teens work out the mechanics of living their lives for Christ. Some commit their lives to Christ for the first time, others resolve to serve Him wholeheartedly, others still get a heart for local and world missions. All are impacted in some way.
We were pleased to be a small part of this huge conference in roles that we feel comfortable in. Chris was a part of the OMNIvision crew who covered the video for the main meetings – making sure that people could see, hear and understand the message being spoken to them. The title of this year’s TeenStreet was ‘Newsong 40’ – following Psalm 40 it encourages teens to leave behind the ‘old song’ of the world and start to sing the new song from God: “We were created to start each day anew, not consumed with the pain and regret of yesterday, or the fears and worries of tomorrow. Instead, to start a day in relationship with the Happiest person we know. Starting the day singing the Truth of the Kindest person we know, and what HE says about who you are. This is the song of our Father, who’s desire is to see His Kingdom come on Earth, as it is in HEAVEN!”. (www.teenstreet.de)
Part of Chris’s role for the week was to edit and upload recordings of the sessions. You can watch them online at http://www.omnitube.org/TeenStreet_Germany/. Feel free to use the clips or the ideas in them for your youth meetings etc.
Ruth coordinated the kids program – KidStreet – that ran simultaniously for the kids of helpers and organisers of TeenStreet. Following the same theme of a new song, the kids enjoyed a range of fun activities on their level, helping them to leave behind their old song and sing the new. Leading a group of kids who all speak different languages is difficult, but thankfully we had helpers from all the language groups!

This has been a big highlight for the start of our time with OM ICT in Carlisle, especially for Chris. We look forward to going to Holland in two weeks for the Global Orinentation (GO) conference – where new missionaries entering the field are given intense cross cultural missions training over two weeks – we did this ourselves when we joined the ship! After that we get to settle down into life in Carlisle – working with families in the mission field and creating multimedia resources for missions.